He opened the scoring in the 24th minute, advancing unmarked into the box, cutting inside of his defender and hitting a shot toward the net that deflected in off 'Caps defender Ali Adnan for the own goal.

Felipe Gutierrez then doubled SKC's lead in the 56th minute. Gerso intercepted a poor 'Caps clearance and fed the Chilean, who sent a low drive from outside the box that made its way through the legs of a defender and past the goalkeeper.

Gerso put the finishing touches on his influential performance in second-half stoppage time, slamming home a ball that teammate Krisztian Nemeth cut back to the top of the six-yard box. The goal was Gerso's first of the 2019 campaign.

The Whitecaps, who handed 19-year-old academy product Theo Bair his first MLS start at forward, threatened to get on the board on a few occasions, but SKC 'keeper Tim Melia came up big when called into question. The woodwork also thwarted Vancouver on a free kick in the 76th minute.

Goals

Three Things

THE BIG PICTURE: That sound you hear just might be Sporting Kansas City kicking into another gear in the second half of the season with their second straight win, both via clean sheet. The Whitecaps, meanwhile, are reeling, having lost their third straight with just one win in their last 10 and conceding 15 goals in their last six games without victory.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH: If Tim Melia doesn’t save this Inbeom Hwang free kick, it might have been a different story. It was one of his six saves on the night.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Gerso was a menace throughout. It was his shot that deflected in off Adnan for the own goal before he set up Gutierrez and scored a goal of his own to seal the win.